Automobile bumper



R. B. FAGEOL.

AUTOMOBILE BUMPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAII. 31, 192|.

I 1,427,275 .Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

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R. B. FAGEO..

AUTOMOBILE BUMPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAH. s1, 1921.

Patented Aug. 29

S14/9mm "@Mmbm mw W We if Mm k V A1 ROLLIE B. FAGEOL, 0F OAKLAND,CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMOBILE BUMPER.

Maaate.

Speciiication of Letters Patent.

`Patented Aug. 29, 1922.

Original application led November 12, 1917, Serial No. l201,47f1.Divided and this application flied March 31, 1921.

T 0 al?, whom it may concer/1t Be it known tliatJI,y RoLLin B. FAcEoL, acitizen ofthe United States, residing at Oakland, in the county ofAlameda'and State of California, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Automobile Bumpers, of which the following is a fullclear, and complete description.

This application is a division of my pending application Serial No.201474, filed November 12, 1917.

1n general the present invention relates to improvements'in means forprotecting vehicles against damage resulting from collisions with movingor stationary objects, and is particularly directed to automobilebumpers.

An object of the present invention is to provide a device of theaforesaid character which may be cheaply manufactured and readilyattached to a vehicle Without altering the construction or detractingfrom the I appearance thereof, and which when in place will effectivelyguard against injury the parts of the vehicle which it is designed toprotect.

The invention is further directed to the rovision'of a bumper which willembody ew parts, and which, by reason of its makeup and mode ofapplication to a vehicle, will eliminate the rattling noise whichusually results from the interconnected parts of any of the bumpers nowknown. For obvious reasons the elimination of this disagreeable jfeature is a decided advantage.

,The invention further contemplates the provision of a bumper for motorvehicles and the like of such nature as to be particularly effective indelecting the shocksl from encountering obstacles in such a way as tominimize the danger either to the vehicle or to the object encountered.

A further object of the invention is the provision' of a bumper whichwill yield in all directions, bothl forward and back, and laterally.

Another object of the invention consists in the provision of a bumperstructure of such character that the bumper itself will not be destroyedor permanently distorted or injured by the shocks to which a bumper isfrequently subjected, so that the. bumper will not be quickly rendereduseless ordistorted intoiunsightly form.

A still further object of to provide a bumper which eliminates the theinvention is Serial No. 457,324.

wardlyinto engagement with the tire, thev latter will not be injuredthereby, while at the same time the bumper bar Will-be reinforced andcushioned by the tire and will not be permanently distorted. A stillfur* ther advanta e of the flexible bent-over portions 1s that, 1n casean object is encountered, for instance, in backing out of a garage, theend of the bumper bar may not catch at all,

by reason of the bent-over portion, but

should it catch the bar will yield outwardly and allow the bumper toslip by, but by reaso/n of its flexibility the bar will at once returnto its original shape.

A further object of the invention is to provide a bumper structure whichmay be readily attached to cars of various types and sizes and havingframes of various widths.l

Anda still further object of the invention is to provide a bumperstructure which will be strong and durable, eilicient, attractive inappearance, and which shall tend to improve the appearance of thevehicle to which it is applied. A

In the accompanying drawings, wherein an embodiment of the presentinvention has been illustrated.

Figs. 1 and 2 show in elevation and plan respectively, the bumper inplace upon a vehicle; f

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of one of the supporting elements shown inFig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section through the mechanism for attaching the .bumper to avehicle.

Fig. 5 is anelevation of the` apparatus of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevational view of onelof the members connectingthe bumper bar'to its supporting members;

Fig. 7 is a section taken on the line 7 -7 of Fig. 6 looking in thedirection of the arrows; an

Fig. 8 is a section taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Like characters of reference designate like parts throughout thedrawings.

Referring now to the drawingsin detaily i designata tueinmpertaatafia-emegapportmg vmembers therefor: Both 'berend Supporting membersarefmade'jlof yieldable' 'i material, such as spring'fmetah'the ar 1 beiving. preferably. slightly bowed outwardly,y

j and when inu'se, extending transversely of the vehicle, its endsprojecting a slight distance `beyond* Vthe sides of the body oftheyehicla or substantially inline with i the treadof the. wheels'thereof.The end por,-

- iti-ons of the ban-designated 3, 3are bent over ',uponthemselves,shepherd-s crook.

preferably to form a straps in place and securely clamping the.

- bu'er members 1 andl 2, 2, the inner ends of these screws preferablyentering detents or ,depressions formed in the ends of the mem- `bers 2,2. This construction constitutes a very effective method for holding thesupporting members to the buii'er bar, and also permits of lateraladjustment of the bar; it

j also constitutes means whereby the supporting'members may be adjustedto adapt the bui'erA to vehicles of various widths and shapes.

The members 2, 2 which are preferably bowed or bent, substantially inthe form il lustrated7 have their inner ends adjustably clamped to theframe 6 of the vehicle. One of these clamps is shown in Figs. 4 and 5,and as the clamp for the other member 2 is a duplicate thereof, adescription of one will suffice. This clamp comprises a disc 7, havingan arc `shaped flange or projection 8 formed thereon, and shown in Fig.4 as engaging the under side of the channel member 6. Teeth ori-ndentations 9 are formed on the face of this disc, and arecomplementary to similar teeth 10 on the face of a disc 11, slotted onits opposite face to receive the end of the member 2. A hook bolt12passes through the end of the member 2 and through the discs 7 and 11,its hook por tion, designated 13, engaging the inner or channel side ofthe member 6, so that when the nut 14 on the bolt is tightened up, theend of the member 2 will be securely held in place. It is obvious thatby simply starting the nut 14, the disc 11 may be rotated about the bolt12 so as to adjust the bumper vertically. 1t is apparent also that the lconstruction of the clamping mechanism j ust described enables thebumper to be applied quickly and insures that it will always remain inadjusted position, vand by reason of the flange 8 and hook bolt 12 willeffectively 'withstand any reasonable pressure that may be put upon it.Another feature of this clamping mlechanism is that the members 2 may besecured to the upper part of the member 6 if desired,l as illustrated inj a *menare broken lines in Fig. 3, by simply turning the` disc 7 andbolt 12 upside down from the position .shown in Fig. 4 for instance. f

' Inasmuch as the clamips for holding the supporting members to thebuffer bar are readily adjustable, and' likewise the clam s ing forlateral strains there is no danger of Y the connection between thebumper and the vehicle body being broken or damaged by a side blow.Furthermore ,by reason of the bowed form of both bumper bar andsupporting'memjbers, the strength of the -bumper is increased underhead-on shockv or blow, without however, sacrificing the yield- .ing orresilient characteristics necessary to apparatus of this nature. The endportions of the bumper are of course particularly likely to be subjectedto glancing blows, but as they are adapted to yield to a considerableextent they will at once return to their original shape withoutpermanent injury to the buffer. The bent over portions of the buffer barhave been found to be highly ef fective in eliminating entangling of thebuffer in obstructing objects in the path of movement f the vehicle, andwill at the same time cause less damage to the object struck. The vedgesof these bent over portions are rounded o slightly or the bent overportions may be made of oval stock so that should they ever be bent backfar enough to engage the tire of the vehicle they would not cut orinjure the same.

1t will be seen that the bumper described includes an impact receivingmember forced throughout its length of yielding material, of such anature that the bumper will always return to its original shape afterimpact. This impact receiving member is reinforced by the yieldablesupporting members which also assist in restoring the bumper to itsoriginal shape. The use of spring material in the construction of thebumper is of particular 'importance in securing durability and abilityto'withstand impacts without permanent distortion. The bumper alsoincludes the bent over portions at each end, which together with theyielding characteristic of the bumper will allow obstructing objects tobe passed without danger of injuIIy either to the vehicle or the bumper.

t is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the exactconstruction of the various yielding members constituting the presentinvention, nor to the precise arrangements of parts illustrated, asothers skilled in this art might make various changes therein, without,however, departing from the spirit and scope of 'my invention.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. A vehicle bumper, comprising an impact member adapted to extendacross the frame of the vehicle and characterized by having its terminalend 'portions looped rearwardly and means independent of said loopedportions flor attaching the bumper to the vehicle. A

2. A vehicle bumper comprising a resilient impact member adapted toextend across the frame of the vehicle and char acterized by having itsterminal end portions looped rearwardly with the ends of said memberslying in spaced relation to the rear wall thereof to provide springloops, and means independent of said looped portions for attaching thebumper tothe vehicle.

3. A vehicle bumper comprising an impact member adapted to extendacross'the frame of the vehicle and characterized by having its terminalendv portions looped rearwardly and resilient means independent of saidlooped portions for attaching the bumper to the vehicle.

4. A vehiclebumper, comprising an im pact member adapted to extendacross the frame of the vehicle, and characterized by having itsterminal end portions looped rearwardly an Ameans secured to said impactmember intermediate the looped portions for supporting said member onthe vehicle.

5. A vehicle bumper, comprising an impact member adapted to lextendacross the trame or the vehicle and characterized by having its terminalend portions looped rearwardly and resilient means adjustably secured tosaid member lfor attaching the bumper to the vehicle.

6. A vehicle bumper, comprising animpact'member bowed outwardlyrelatively to` the vehicle and adapted to extend lacross the framethereof, and characterized by having its endportions bent over to formopen loops, and means secured to the said member intermediate the'bentover portions for attaching the bumper to the vehicle.

7.'A vehicle bumper, comprising an impact member ofresilient materialand characterized by having its terminal ends vlooped rearwardly andmembers of resilient material secured'to said bumper intermediate saidlooped portionsfor attaching the bumper to the vehicle. Y

8. A vehicle bumper, comprising a ilexible impact member characterizedby having its end portions bent over, and means secured to said memberat. points removed from the free ends thereof for attachingthe latter tothe vehicle, said means comprising members of resilient material bowedoutwardly from each other.

9. A vehicle bumper, comprising an impact member of resilient materialcharacterized by being bowed outwardly and hav-A ing its end portionsbent over, and means secured to said member intermediate its ,ends forattaching the latter to the vehicle, said means comprising membersofresilient ma'- terial bowed'outwardly from each other.

10. A vehicle bumper, comprising an impact member for extension acrossthe frame of the vehicle and terminating tin rear-g wardly disposedlooped portions at each end, attaching means secured to said memberintermediate the ends thereof, said member being characterized by beingyieldable from the point of attachment of said means thereto andincluding the looped ends.

11. A securing attachment for adjustably uniting a spring-supportingmember to an impact member of a vehicle bumper, comprising a hollowone-piece member adapted to receive the impact member and the end of thespring supporting member, and clamping screws passing through the wallof said hollow member and engaging the supporting member to clamp thesame to the impact member.

12. A securing attachment for adjustably uniting a spring supportingmember of a vehicle bumper to the vehicle, comprising a member having aange integral therewith adapted to engage the fra-me of the vehicle, asecond member provided with'means to receive the end of the supportingmember, and a bolt passing through the supportingV member and the othermembers and engaging the vehicle frame to maintain, the supportingmember rigid with the frame.

1:3. securing attachment for adjustably umting a spring-supportingmember of a vehicle bumper to the vehicle, comprising a member having aflange integral there- -wlth and adapted to engage the frame of thevehicle, indentations on one face of said member, a second member havinga face vehicle, said means comprising flexible members curved in -ahorizontal plane and having one end attached to the impact member ata`^po1nt intermediate its ends, said impact reo A vehicle.

15. A vehicle bumper, comprising a iex' ible impact member of flatstock, and means secured to said member for attaching the latter to theVehicle, said means comprisin flexible members curved in a horizontaplane and having one end attached to the impact member at a intintermediate its ends, and the other en to the vehicle, whereby theprojecting ends of said impact member are capable of being eitherforwardly or rearwardly flexed.

16. A vehicle bumper, comprising a iexible impact member of flat stock,and means secured to said member for attaching the latter .to thevehicle, said means comprising flexible members of flat stock curved ina horizontal plane and having one end attached to the impact member at apoint intermediate its ends, and the other end to the vehicle.

17. A securing attachment for adjustably uniting the supporting arm of avehicle bumper to a frame member of the vehicle, comprising abearingmember adapted to engage the frame member at two sides, a receivingmember for .the arm abutting the bearing member, the abutting faces ofthe bearing and` receiving members provided with ratchet teeth, and aretalmng de- -vice extending throu h thereceiving'` and bearing members,an enga eable ,with the frame member of the vehic e for-clamping videdwith serrations on its exterior face,-

a flangeportion integral with the disc-por tion to engage the horizontalweb of the frame member, said fiange portion being made concave andcontacting with theJ frame member at two widely separated points, areceiving member for the supportlng arm also disc shaped and havingserrations on one face to cooperate with the serrations on the bearingmember, and a retaining mem-V ber extending through the receiving mem-'ber and through the concave portion of the flange on the bearingmember, said retaining member being engagea-ble with the channel bar ofthe frame member and havin means for clamping the parts in adjusteposition.

Ronnie B. Menon

